mightychurch.com

Nah I don’t think Turnbull will resign.  People get away with almost anything these days (just ask Gordon Brown of the UK Labour party).

The topic that many Laborites are avoiding is what is Swan actually accused of, and what is his answer to the charges.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/turnbull-calls-for-swans-scalp-20090620-crpm.html

The Age report states:

Treasurer Wayne Swan must resign immediately over his role in the “damning” OzCar affair, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull says.

It’s been revealed the Treasurer’s office lobbied on behalf of Ipswich car dealer John Grant, who was seeking a government-backed loan.

Mr Grant is a friend of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

On Thursday, Mr Turnbull called on the Prime Minister and Treasurer to justify their actions regarding the OzCar affair or resign.

Mr Rudd has told reporters an alleged email from his office to Treasury regarding Mr Grant’s request for support was fake.

Now the Opposition has aimed its sights directly at the Treasurer.

“Mr Swan has offered no explanation for any of this and today should tender his resignation,” Mr Turnbull said in a statement.

Mr Swan is due to hold a media conference today.

Mr Turnbull said the case against the Treasurer was “damning”.

A Senate hearing yesterday was presented with a series of emails between an adviser in Mr Swan’s office and Treasury official Godwin Grech - who runs the $2 billion OzCar scheme - lobbying on behalf of Mr Grant.

A number of the emails were copied to Mr Swan’s home fax.

The Treasurer has previously told Parliament his office passed on representations on behalf of Mr Grant but he didn’t know the outcome of the correspondence.

Mr Turnbull says Mr Grant was given “extremely favourable treatment by Treasury officials and Mr Swan was kept closely and personally informed”.

“He has misled the Parliament and used the enormous influence of the Commonwealth Government to seek to secure an advantage for a mate and benefactor of the Prime Minister,” the Opposition leader said.

Malcolm Turnbull said today that the Coalition did not provide the email to the media or fabricate the email itself.

“I don’t have a copy of the email,” Mr Turnbull told reporters in Sydney today.

“The email was not provided to (the media) by anyone in the Opposition.”

He also said the Coalition had nothing to do with the origin of the email.

“The email was not composed by anybody in the Liberal Party - it was not composed by anyone in the Opposition.”

For some days now,  I have also been considering the possibility that the fake email was concocted by a Labor sympathiser ( you can speculate on who knew what - and how high the conspiracy went ) within Treasury in order to “set up” the whole scenario in order to bring down ( gullible and perhaps desperate ) Malcolm Turnbull.

Another conspiracy theory ? Maybe - but who exactly stood to gain from this episode - given that ultimately that email would turn out to be revealed as a fake. The “winner” for this episode( under the conspiracy theory ) was always going to be Labor.

And what a great distraction it turned out to be - and what a waste of a week in parliament - the last before ( I think ) September. As a concerned voter, and fellow Australian who believes in “true democracy”, may I say that now should be the winter of my ( our ) discontent !

I’m sorry but I can’t take any of them seriously, labor or liberal ........I see better scams brewed by the local kids when they want something.

John Grant Mtrs is probably flogging a few with all this publicity.  I still recall when one of my company utes made front page due to it’s involvement in a nasty accident. Got to work to see the signwritten ute enblazed across the front page of the Bendigo Addy ...phone number and all! .......we had the busiest week we’d had for ages.
(maybe you also have to understand we were a performance car parts provider heheheheee)
any publicity is good publicity they say .......and I think it was a car yard bloke that said it originally.

Didn’t I read that used car salesmen are now considered more trustworthy than politicians ;)

People are concentrating on the fake emails. It is said that this is distracting attention away from the main issue. The main issue is whether Swan gave special attention to helping Mr Rudd’s mate, and then misled Parliament on what he had done.

Why not concentrate your attention to what Swan may have done?

(Many seem unable to do this maybe because of their political support for Labor?)

I agree with your point of view Ken - that is why I said ...  “And what a great distraction it turned out to be - and what a waste of a week in parliament…”

Labor’s tactic ( which turned out to be so effective this week ) was one of EVASION -  in order to escape close scrutiny of Wayne Swan’s bumbling efforts.

I just think it’s amazing what we follow in our media while the SCO conferences have slipped past everyone.
Much more interesting read than domestic crap that goes on.
These conferences have involved nearly half the world population and I see nothing in our papers about them.
....why is that I wonder?
Makes you wonder about what else is held from our gaze.

I think both partys and all politics in australia is in denial with a lot of things. Not least the SCOs existence.
I watch closely as I see this new Jewish confidant (sp??) of Rudds moving about visibly now. And Howards old one obviously missing from the turnouts ....what’s that mean I wonder?

I digress heheheeeee :rolleyes:

Just an aside but wasn’t Yekaterinburg where they dropped the Czar down the mineshaft?

“SCO”  - ?

I think it’s the non-Western version of the EU or NAFTA.  So Russia, China, Arab countries gathered together to discuss better relations and trade.

It’s also slipped past in HK media because of what’s happening in Iran.

@ Ken

The Treasury article that I pasted in #12 has Swan’s reply to the ‘evidence’ on offer so far.  Basically, that all car dealers are being treated the same in arms-length terms (through the local electorate) and that Swan receives hundreds of faxes at home every week.  I don’t necessarily believe him but with the absence of any real evidence I consider him innocent.

@ Kevin

Certainly it’s been a distraction, but I suspect the email has come from a disgruntled Liberal staffer as per numerous media reports’ speculation.  Someone who doesn’t like Turnbull’s relatively moderate stance on issues and wants the right/far right to dominate the Liberal Party again.

Bigger than that Arthur .....govts representing half the worlds population making plans in global management.
Pay to listen.
But instead of that we have this childish crap going on ......I was more interested in what our second in charge was doing than what these clowns at home at up to.  Just screwing around while the rest of the world try to get sorted.
The worlds economic mess ain’t over yet and squabbling about who did what to what car dealer is just garbage in the scheme of things….....so is who’s in power in aus.  We follow the states what ever happens so no ones to worry heheheee.

Check out who President Hu has been visiting
....this stuff is about a week away from our news yet. If these guys put this all together the world will see a big shift in the way things are done…...and it won’t be our way anymore.
Rudd or Turnbull or even Hockey ......who cares! The rest of the world barely heard of any of them.  .....other than Kev and his mandarine.

Charltons waiting for an apology ......and will be waiting a while.

where we are now after two weeks of political garbage .....next elections pretty well decided then.

So many things that parliament could have discussed ......but waste their time with this crap.
We need an opposition so badly ......not this ‘same but different’ mob that sit across the chamber.
I haven’t seen a real debate about anything ever in the australian parliaments.
Foreign policy is the only thing that matters at the moment and I wonder why nothings been said about the middle east visit by our fearless second in charge ......just the fact that both the USA and Australia sent women envoys to the middle east was enough to make waves over there. Israel thanking us for supporting them in the Lebanon war recently wouldn’t have gone down too well with most in the area.  Israel made a point of showing our colours to the worlds media about our support by taking the opportunity to thank us through Julia. (shame her minders didn’t warn her)
this is the stuff that is news worthy ......not these school yard antics of the opposition at the moment. .......at least an average aussie kid would have embeded the original email properly and not done some half baked job of it like the Libs appear to have done.

Been chuckling away to myself over this one. Turnbull stepped way over the mark and is paying. Dirty tricks backfiring methinks.

Grech admits he faked it!

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/grech-admits-to-fake-utegate-email/story-e6freuy9-1225757610769

Who would have thought it!!!